Meeting resource scheduling based upon attendee participation types

Abstract

The system and method of the present invention provides automatic tools and visual hints to a meeting host who is scheduling a meeting to book meeting related resources more efficiently by utilizing pre provided profile information and additional meta data from meeting confirmations. When host schedules a meeting, he selects the location information and checks the “visual” flag if needed. Any point in time, each attendee fills in user profile information. Upon accepting invitation, each attendee fills in the type of attendance field. Each attendee, after accepting invite, can change the type of participation by going to the calendar system and changing his settings. The change will be sent to the server to update the scheduled meeting object. A reservation system that is connected to the scheduling system would then collect information about the meeting type and required resource allocated and make the necessary bookings accordingly. The auto assigned resources can include (but are not limited to): conference room—if invitees plan to attend in-person conference room with projector—if invitees plan to attend in-person and visual information to be present dial in conference call number—if remote invitees attending the meeting online meeting—if remote invitees attending the meeting, if meeting scheduled with visual information to be present.

1 . A process, in a system having a meeting scheduling service, for scheduling a meeting by a meeting host comprising the steps of:
 a. filling in, by the meeting host, meeting details into a meeting scheduler user interface (UI);   b. retrieving from the meeting host's user preferences the default host location for the meeting;   c. allowing the meeting host to choose the default location or to select an alternative location for the meeting;   d. allowing the meeting host to select a visual flag if any visual materials are to be presented; and   e. receiving, from the meeting host, at the meeting scheduler, the meeting request.   
     
     
         2 . The process of  claim 1  further wherein step c further allows the meeting host to choose “no particular location—phone only” to support remote, mobile or work at home attendees. 
     
     
         3 . The process of  claim 2  further wherein, in step d, the visual flag may indicate a projection system for in-person meetings and may indicate an online meeting reservation for phone-only meetings. 
     
     
         4 . A process, in a system having a meeting scheduling service, for scheduling a meeting by a meeting host with attendees, the meeting host having sent a meeting invite to the attendees, the meeting invite having fields for primary meeting location and for attendee participation type, the attendee having a file consisting of his preferences and an attendee primary location, comprising the steps of:
 a. the attendee opening the meeting invite;   b. in the meeting scheduling service, examining the attendee's preferences and determining whether the attendee has a preferred participation type;   c. next, in the meeting scheduling service, determining whether the primary meeting location matches the user primary location;   d. if not, remote participation is set as default and the attendee submits the accept action and the meeting accept is sent to the meeting scheduling service; and   e. if so, the attendee reviews the default participation type and changes if needed and the attendee submits the accept action and the meeting accept is sent to the meeting scheduling service.   
     
     
         5 . The process of  claim 4  wherein, after step a, further has the step of the attendee deciding to accept the meeting invite, the step of the attendee determining whether a primary location is specified, the step of, if not, the attendee submits the accept action and the meeting accept is sent to the meeting scheduling service, and, if not, moving to step b. 
     
     
         6 . The process of  claim 4  further comprising, after the attendee submitting the accept action, the steps of the attendee opening the scheduled meeting notice, modifying the meeting participation type, the attendee submitting a change notification and sending the change notification to the meeting scheduling service. 
     
     
         7 . A process, in a system having a meeting scheduling service, for scheduling a meeting by a meeting host with attendees, the meeting host having sent a meeting request to the meeting scheduling service, the meeting request having fields for primary meeting location, for attendee participation type, and a visual flag, the attendee having a file consisting of his preferences and an attendee primary location, comprising, at meeting scheduling service, the steps of:
 a. receiving request for a meeting scheduling related event;   b. determining whether it is a new meeting to schedule;   c. if it is a new meeting to schedule, allocating a meeting object and set visual flag, if contained in the request;   d. if it is not a new meeting to schedule, determining if any attendees are attending in person or remotely;   e. if attendees are attending in person, booking a room of the appropriate size to accommodate the attendees attending in person and with a phone and internet connectivity and sending a meeting update event to all attendees and, if no attendees are attending in person, canceling room; and   f. if any of the attendees are attending remotely, setting up a phone conference of appropriate capacity, setting up an online meeting of appropriate capacity and sending a meeting update event to all attendees.   
     
     
         8 . The process of  claim 7  further having, after step b, if there is a new meeting to schedule, the step of allocating a meeting object and setting the visual flag if contained in the meeting request and, after step c, if there are remote attendees, determining whether the visual flag is set on the meeting object. 
     
     
         9 . The process of  claim 8  further comprising, if the visual flag is set, the step of booking a meeting room with visual tools. 
     
     
         10 . The process of  claim 8  further comprising, if the visual flag is not set, the step of booking a meeting room with a telephone and sending a meeting update event to all attendees. 
     
     
         11 . The process of  claim 8  further comprising, if the visual flag is set and there are attendees are attending the meeting remotely, booking a meeting room with phone and internet connectivity and sending a meeting update event to all attendees. 
     
     
         12 . A system for providing meeting resource scheduling based upon attendee participation types, the system having a meeting host, a server and at least one attendees, the meeting host having a calendaring system for initially scheduling the meeting by sending an initial meeting request to the at least one attendee via the server, the server having a meeting scheduling server for processing the initial meeting request and forwarding it to the at least one attendee, and the at least one attendee having a calendaring system for receiving the initial meeting request and for sending a participation type to the meeting host. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12  wherein the meeting host calendaring system further is for sending a host meeting update. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 12  wherein the meeting host calendaring system is further for setting a visual flag in the meeting request. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 12  wherein the server meeting scheduling service is for booking a room of the appropriate size based upon the number of attendees attending meeting in person. 
     
     
         16 . A computer program comprising program code stored on a computer-readable medium, which when executed, enables a computer system to implement the following steps, in a system having a meeting scheduling service, for scheduling a meeting by a meeting host with attendees, the meeting host having sent a meeting request to the meeting scheduling service, the meeting request having fields for primary meeting location, for attendee participation type, and a visual flag, the attendee having a file consisting of his preferences and an attendee primary location, comprising, at meeting scheduling service, the steps of:
 a. receiving request for a meeting scheduling related event;   b. determining whether it is a new meeting to schedule;   c. if it is a new meeting to schedule, allocating a meeting object and set visual flag, if contained in the request;   d. if it is not a new meeting to schedule, determining if any attendees are attending in person or remotely;   e. if attendees are attending in person, booking a room of the appropriate size to accommodate the attendees attending in person and with a phone and internet connectivity and sending a meeting update event to all attendees and, if no attendees are attending in person, canceling room; and   f. if any of the attendees are attending remotely, setting up a phone conference of appropriate capacity, setting up an online meeting of appropriate capacity and sending a meeting update event to all attendees.   
     
     
         17 . The process of  claim 16  further having, after step b, if there is a new meeting to schedule, the step of allocating a meeting object and setting the visual flag if contained in the meeting request and, after step c, if there are remote attendees, determining whether the visual flag is set on the meeting object. 
     
     
         18 . The computer program of  claim 17  further comprising, if the visual flag is set, the step of booking a meeting room with visual tools. 
     
     
         19 . The computer program of  claim 17  further comprising, if the visual flag is not set, the step of booking a meeting room with a telephone and sending a meeting update event to all attendees. 
     
     
         20 . The computer program of  claim 17  further comprising, if the visual flag is set and there are attendees are attending the meeting remotely, booking a meeting room with phone and internet connectivity and sending a meeting update event to all attendees.